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tv   Way Too Early With Willie Geist  MSNBC  November 1, 2012 2:30am-3:00am PDT

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aftermath of hurricane sandy. and hearing the stories with his victims like that woman in new jersey. here's where we are at 5:30 a.m. eastern time this morning. the death toll as a result of sandy now stands at 72 according to the associated press. 5.6 million homes and business as long the eastern seaboard still without electricity. in new york city, half of manhattan is pourlewerless, the travel situation is getting into motion. limited subway station resumes in areas where the tunnels are not flooded. governor cuomo declared a transportation emergency which suspends fares on all mass transit. limited flights expected to resume at laguardia airport at 7:00 a.m. today. the situation remains dicey in other parts of the city. bellevue hospital, the city's top trauma center is now shut down. last night the hospital safely evacuated the remaining 300 patients after fuel pumps to
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backup generators failed. we followed two days of around the clockwork to keep that power running. at one point employees made a 14-floor human chain to get buckets of fuel up to the generators. but with major flooding still in the basement, officials say it could be two to three weeks at least before bellevue is anywhere close to normal. but again, those evacuations were safe. directly across the river from manhattan in hoe beck boken, ne jersey, 150,000 people without power in and around the area. electricity there may not come back for as many as ten days. residence being told to stay out of standing water because of sewage and oil leaks. the national guard is bringing in food and supplies and ferrying stranded residence to dry land. stephanie abrams is live in hoboken. stephanie, good morning. what does it look like today? >> reporter: good morning. let me show you around here. something i think is very interesting. i'm going to start you off with this man hole cover. everything is fine, right? no wear the coming out.
quote
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a lot of time the water bubbles out of. that the water has come from the hudson. and it brought with it the sentiment. it unundated this car. remember, all you need is 12 inches of swiftly moving water to move a car. six inches to knock you off your feet. now as we make our way to the sidewalk. willie and everyone at home, check this out. the water is bubbling out from the sidewalk. i never saw ut bubble out of a sidewalk. it's doing that everywhere. and it's bubbling out of this building, too. so i'm not quite sure what's going on here. you can also see that water mark. hopefully it's visible on camera. but that water is, it came up to my hip. so that's how high the water got here. now we're going to take you back and turn you around and show you other stuff going on here in the streets. we have just now this tow truck pulled up into the street. there's an ambulance over here that they're actually trying to tow. i have to tell you, the water is
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not too deep because we're standing in sand. there is all kinds of sentiment here. they're trying to tow this ambulance out of the middle of the street. i'm not sure how it got caught there. of course, willie, some people did try to save their properties by bagging up over here. but as you can see, again, you see that water mark? let me hop over here real quick for you. that water mark again, i don't know if can you see it, it came up to about here. that's how high it seems to have gotten where we are here in hoboken, willie. >> that looks like 3 1/2, 4 feet. stephanie, something like 20,000 people stranded in hoboken yesterday? do we have any word on those folks? >> reporter: i don't have any word on those people as of this morning. i've got to tell you, it is pitch black. i have not seen anybody. there is no electricity here. you can see the power lines are still up. but the electricity is down. of course, willie, i'll let you know if i see anyone or sea any rescues going on or able to talk to anybody. >> all right. the weather channel's stephanie
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abrams. incredible scene there in hoboken, new jersey. nnchts th . in new jersey, two million people still without power. the jersey coastline literally reshaped by the sheer power of the waives and winds brought to shore by sandy. gasoline is now a precious commodity with cars backed up for miles at some gas stations including along the garden state parkway. yesterday president obama joined governor chris christie on the ground in atlantic city for an up close look at the destruction where the storm came ashore. they also saw the damage by air boarding the president's marine one helicopter for aerial views of the hardest hit community. the governor thanks the president for pledging quick federal relief in the region, something president obama insists will not be delayed. >> what i can promise you is that the federal government will be working as closely as possible with the state and local officials and we will not quit until this is done. we are not going to tolerate red
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tape. we're not going to tolerate bureaucracy. and, you know, i instituted a 15-minute rule on my team. you return everybody's phone calls in 15 minutes, whether it's the mayor's, governor's, county officials, if they need something, we figure out a way to say yes. >> president obama and governor christie have been working closely throughout this crisis. governor christie yesterday found himself defending his praise over the last several days for president obama. >> the president of the united states and i have had six conversations since sunday. that shows to me a level of caring and concern and interest that i think leadership should be giving to this type of situation. this was a comfortable and relaxing interaction i've had with the president since i've known him. and i think it's because we're both doing what we want to do which is get things done. there will be some folks who criticize me for complimenting him. well, you know what? i speak the truth. that's what i always do. sometimes you like it, sometimes
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you don't. sometimes politicians like it, sometimes they don't. but i say what i feel and what i believe. and i'm just doing the same thing with the president of the united states. so i do pinch myself every day. you know, like when i got on marine one, i'm pinching myself, believe me. sandy and bill christie's son on marine one is not what i thought would be happening with my life. >> for more on the situation along the jersey shore, let's go to danielle leigh live in toms river. danielle, i know you're about 8 miles away from seaside heights. we've seen incredible pictures. what are you seeing? >> reporter: where i'm standing is next to that bridge at toms river that leads over to the popular vacation communities, seaside heights. they're still cut off from the rest of society. this morning you may be able to see the police cars behind me. they're saying it's just not safe to go over there. you walk along toms river, constant reminders of the devastation. a boat just sitting along the road, a piece of couch.
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and when people walk by and see these items, these things, these pieces of people's lives, it's very difficult for them. it reminds them what they went through yesterday looking at the damages in places like seaside heights. emergency officials successfully rescued dozens of people. now today they'll go back over there and start addressing the underlying safety issues, the open gas lines leading to fires, blocked off roads, so people can begin going back over to the communities, getting a look at what remains and what they can do to rebuild. that's something many of the people over here are very anxious to do, especially those that evacuated before the storm happened. they haven't gotten to go over there and see what is left of their homes. they've been here, many of them now without power for days. they're just ready to have power, a hot meal and to go see what is left of their homes. reporting live in toms river, new jersey, danielle leigh, back to you. >> thank you. a lot of those people have only seen their homes on television. want to get a first-hand look at them. danielle in toms river, thank you. the stock market is struggling to get going after
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the stock stonew york stock exc closed its doors. this is the scene on monday. the usually loud, packed floors falling silent. yesterday though, michael bloomberg rang the opening bell to the relief of financial markets everywhere. let's get an early look at the markets now. for that, we go to julia chatterly live in london. good morning. >> reporter: thanks very much. good morning. cautious trading here in europe likely to feed into the u.s. session today. the u.s. session ended virtually unchanged yesterday. it was functioning smoothly. among the biggest movers yesterday, facebook shares losing 4%. the first day that workers became eligible to sell shares they received when the company went public six months ago. remember, the workers watched the share prices fall to almost half its ipo value. so also question about whether we continue to see pressure on that stock with further chunks coming up. also apple lost ground
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yesterday. two key management changes. the key iphone software developer is leaving. he's been at the post for 15 years. it leaves concerns about management uncertainty. for now though, what we're look ago head to is earnings and adjustment jobs data. back to you. >> all right, julia, we get that jobs number tomorrow. thanks so much. we turn to presidential politics. with five days until election day, president obama heading back on the campaign trail after a three day hold on campaigning to keep an eye on hurricane sandy. he's making up for lost time hitting three swing states today and spending all day tomorrow in ohio. first stop this morning, wisconsin. the latest poll shows the president has a three point lead. that is within the margin of error. down from a six point edge a couple weeks ago. in new hampshire, mitt romney also in a statistical tie.
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a month ago before the debate, the president held a seven point lead in new hampshire. in iowa, the president leads mitt romney by six points, a drop slightly from his eight point lead earlier in october. the president surveying storm damage yesterday. mitt romney softened his attacks mentioning the president's name not a single time during three florida rallies. instead, mr. romney expressed the need for unity. >> we come together at times like this and we want to make sure they have a speedy and quick recovery from their financial and in many cases personal loss. now people coming together is what's also going to happen, i believe, on november 7. >> sandy made land fall earlier this week, mitt romney has been facing questions about his plans for funding fema and disaster response, something he suggested turning back to the states during a republican debate last
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year. attempting to clarify the candidate's position, the romney campaign released a statement yesterday reading "i believe fema plays a key role in working with states and localities to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. as president, i will ensure fema has the funding it needs to fulfill its mission while directing maximum resources to the first responders who work tirelessly to help those in need because states and localities are in the best position to get aid to the individuals and communities affected by natural disasters." mr. romney today will campaign in virginia while his running mate paul ryan meets supporters in colorado and in nevada. still ahead this morning on "way too early," a tale of two cities. a lan of demarcation separates manhattan with power from the manhattan completely in the dark. we'll show you the different worlds on the same island. plus, john stuart offered his take on that divided city. a little comic relief in the
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middle of all this from john stewart and a check on the weather when "way too early" come back. i'm freaking out man.
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>>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. 5:45 in the morning. you're looking at a live picture looking downtown from the top of our building. let's get a check of the weather now from bill karins. >> it's not raining or snowing on the people that suffered from sandy, but the cold is taking its toll on the people without power in their houses and without heat. it's not going to break. it's now november 1st. you don't expect any big warmups once you hit the month of november. a lot of people are being forced to find somewhere else to live because you can't just stay in your cold house for too many days in a row, especially if you have children or elderly. so here's the temperatures. we're in the 40s right now. it hasn't really warmed up during the daylight hours. sandy lingers with the clouds and occasional showers.
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as we go throughout the day, the thing we're going to expect to see is more sunshine than we saw yesterday. so that's good. that means the repair crews and everyone else. temperatures are going to be in the 50s. we're going to watch the storm spinning up. there we still have a lot of rain back towards the finger lakes and buffalo and syracuse. snow showers outside of pittsburgh and a general cool flow of air from sandy on the backside. here's a look at the radar. buffalo is locked in. and the new york state thruway. they're doing okay as far as the storm concerns and cleanup. for the forecast today for the area affected by sandy so badly, maybe we'll get into the mid to upper 50s. at least it will be a dry day for everyone. and the forecast looks dry through the upcoming weekend. temperatures in the middle of the country, no problems whatsoever. and we're actually looking okay right through the weekend for the cleanup. but, you know, the storm, you know, a lot of people are saying this is one of the few storms that ever lived up to the hype. >> i think it exceeded it, bill. you were a busy man throughout. for a city where five
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million people use the subway every day, the shutdown of the subway system hit commuters hard. the parts of the subway will open. there is a darkened downtown and up town. manhattan is divided in half. those with power and those without. nbc's ann thompson has the story. ♪ >> reporter: in new york, the haves an have notes are divided by power. for those without, manhattan's hot spots are anyplaces with power strips to share. the buzz is about living in the dark. >> no lights, no power, no nothing. >> reporter: and with little mass transit. >> five buss to get downtown brooklyn and brooklyn bridge, just to see what was going on. i had no idea what happened. >> this station had water filled half way at the moment but before as much as to the ceiling. >> reporter: with subways still underwater, some people took to two wheels. >> it's sort of like the city
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has been cut in after around 40th street. >> reporter: but most got in their cars and didn't get anywhere fast. we're at 67th and 2nd avenue. our goal is to go 31 blocks south on second avenue. let's see how long it takes. the first block took seven minutes. it's going to be a long ride. to ease the brid lock, michael bloo bloomberg announced new rules. >> from 6:00 to midnight if, you're coming into man hat an on one of the bridges, you have to have three people in the car. >> reporter: in other parts of the city, the situation remains dire. after roof top evacuations in staten island, rescuers in boats went house-to-house in this still submerged neighborhood. >> all these homes underwater. again, we're talking about a good six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 12 blocks inland, a good mile or so inland before the water finally recedes over here. >> reporter: here, normalcy very far away. but it is slowly returning to
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parts of manhattan. the symbol of economic power, the new york stock exchange reopened running on a generator. and despite criticism, the new york city marathon will go on sunday. it brought $340 million to the city last year. >> the bottom line is new york city lost a lot of revenue this last few daysment we lost a lot of economic activity. we need to restart really quickly for the good of our people. >> that was ann thompson reporting. one former city commissioner says the only time traffic was this bad was during a transit strike in new york in 1980. coming up at the top of the houhour on "morning joe," barack obama and chris christie put politics aside to deal with sandy. and new polls in battleground states as we're five days away from the election. and when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler briefly to watch stephen
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flood damage brought on by sandy is estimated to be in the billions of dollars. fema run national flood insurance program might not have the funds to pick up the tab. according to a fema spokesman, the national flood insurance program has $4 billion in cash and borrowing authority to cover flood losses. the program already owes $18 billion to the u.s. treasury and will is currently a $28.8 billion cap for the amount of money the flood program can borrow from the government. let's watch the daily show's take on that divide we just talk about between those in new york city with power and those stuck in the dark. >> millions tonight still without power, water, thousands displaced. in manhattan, the power is still out downtown or as we refer to it now little north korea.
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for more on the city and the after effects of shushg sandy, we go to al in battery park city. we'll start downtown with al. al, what's the scene like downtown, al? >> jon, downtown still devastated. many tunnels filled with seawater. grocery stores are empty. and there's been no electricity since the substation exploded just around there up 14th street. >> al? what is that on your back. >> it's a machete, jon. see, there are two types of folks still down here in no juice town. people with machetes and dead people without machetes. >> all right, al, we'll come back to you. >> we're going to go to john albert uptown. what are things like up there? >> it's a total great day here. for starters, i doan want to cause a panic. serendipity has run out of mocha
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sprinkles. which begs the question, jon, where the. [ beep ] is fema when you need them? >> it is it tough uptown. stephen colbert wondering if sandy has a political agenda. >> none of this surprises me. hurricanes have a well known liberal bias. first katrina tainted george bush's presidency. then isaac wiped out the first day of the republican national convention. now hurricane sandy. sandy, what kind of name is that? are you induced or a lady storm? big surprise, just when obama needs a boost, who shows up in a gender ambiguous weather system? a category 5 bi-hurricane. don't get me wrong, i don't mind you being a meteorological event but why must be so flam poiboya and in my face about it? no, i'm hurricane sandy. deal with me. >> all right. did you see this video
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yesterday? a 4-year-old girl in ft. collins, colorado, if you think you're sick of the presidential election, look to her reaction after a ride to her grocery store with her mom during which she listened to an mpr report about the campaign. >> because i'm tired of both obama and mitt romney. >> that's why you're crying? oh, it will be over soon, abby. okay? the election will be over soon, okay? >> okay. >> she speaks for so many. by the way, npr offered an apology to the little girl and said "only a few more days. only a few more days." here's a picture of little abigail smiling. there she is happy. they visited her and gave her a little feature and tweeted out that picture. still ahead on "way too early." your texts, tweets and more are
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